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Entering his senior season, Claude Mumbere was poised to lead the Burlington High School boys soccer team from the striker position. After watching Paul Bianchi pump in 21 goals during Essex’s Division I title run last year, Mumbere hoped for a similar effort.

But preseason injuries, along with graduation losses, plagued coach Bob Day’s defensive rotation and Mumbere returned to the back line as a central defender.

Regrouping from those early setbacks, the Seahorses yielded only 12 goals and went 12-2-2 in a season that ended with a 1-0 loss to Champlain Valley in the Division I semifinals. Much of the credit goes to Mumbere, a big reason why he is the Burlington Free Press’ inaugural boys soccer player of the year.

“The important thing to remember is a player has to be willing to accept responsibility — and he did,” Day said of Mumbere’s move to defense. “I think he has a competitive spirit about him. I don’t think second best is in his nature.

“That’s who he is — excellence is just a part of him,” added Day.

South Burlington coach David Martin said he went from being worried about stopping Mumbere’s offense to trying to crack the Mumbere-led BHS defense.

“How were we going to get scoring chances?” asked Martin, whose state-champion Rebels lost to Burlington, 2-1, in the regular season. “Despite his size, he’s extremely good in the air, he’s fast and he distributes the ball very well out of the back. Because of his anticipation, raw speed and strength, it’s very difficult to get by him. It showed in the few goals that Burlington gave up.”

Ready to seize an opportunity in Burlington’s attack, Mumbere was admittedly disappointed in the role reversal, but understood the reasons behind it.

“Over the summer, I was so jacked for high school soccer. I was really inspired by Paul Bianchi and how he played and the number of goals he scored,” Mumbere said. “Then we were hit with all these obstacles. Sometimes, things just happen and you have to adjust and that’s what I did.

“It’s what had to be done and I took it on proudly.”

Mumbere, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has spent much of his time in the United States adjusting. In 2003, his father, playwright Pierre Mujomba, fled to California after one of his best-known works was met with criticism with the Congolese government. Mumbere and the rest of his family followed shortly after. Then they moved from California to Rhode Island before settling in Vermont in 2009.

“Moving to the U.S., it was a giant switch. But I personally think I acclimate pretty easily,” said Mumbere, who said his family’s safety was a factor in leaving their native country. “I think the move was pretty beneficial to the whole family, and I enjoy being here very much.”

Mumbere has carved out an impression in Vermont off the pitch. In March, he represented the state at the National Poetry Out Loud finals in Washington, D.C. Poetry is a passion for Mumbere, who hopes to study communications and play soccer in college. Northeastern, Emmanuel and Union are possible landing spots.

“I want to see the world. I want to get out and see everything; there’s a lot out there,” Mumbere said. “I want to play soccer, but eventually it’s going to be over and what you learn in school is basically going to stick with you and help you for the rest of your life.”